I am passionate about reggae music, sumo, and triathlons. For my day job, I pretend to be a VC with Shizen Capital in Tokyo. Here’s how to pitch us.

Before becoming a venture capitalist, I started three tech companies: two failures and one lucky success during the dot-com bubble. As a VC, my success ratio is slightly less disastrous (though only slightly, ha ha). Most impressive is my anti-portfolio, i.e. the deals that got away.

Our current portfolio can be found at Shizen Capital. Additional board seats include the AfricaTri Foundation.

Past exits include: Birdview (acq. by Constellation Software), CCI Publishers, Capsule (acq. by JMI Equity), Cerent (acq. by Cisco), Domain Appraisal Tech, enTouch (acq. by Toho Pharma), GoCater (acq. by EZCater), Kang (acq. by Adviqo), ITMasters (acq. by BMC Software), Keyyo (IPO), MakeLeaps (acq. by Ricoh), Momac (acq. by Sandvine), Peer Digital (acq. by V-Span), PeopleCube (acq. by Asure Software), Seya (acq. by Fusion Systems), and Vision/IQ (acq. by MG International).

Books authored:
Japan: Bitcoin #1
Land of the Rising Blockchain

[Note: the views expressed in this blog are my own, and do not necessarily reflect the positions of Shizen Capital, the Fédération Française de Triathlon, the Japan Sumo Association, nor the International Association of Reggae Artists and DJs.]

Contact: mark(at)shizen(dot)vc